Rajasthan Festivals – Colorful and Rich Culture
Rajasthan Festivals
Rajasthan is famous for its Royalty and hospitality. It has rich traditions and culture. Rajput kings ruled this land for centuries and made the state a part of Indian history. Rajasthan people feel proud of celebrating festivals, traditions, history and heritage. Devotees celebrate festivals with great pomp and colourful. Some festivals are celebrated in the memories of their kings and warriors.
Rajasthan International Folk Festival, Jodhpur
This festival is celebrated to promote Rajasthan’s traditional art and music. The festival is a platform for people to show their creativity and sustainable development in life. Maharaja of Jodhpur and Sir Mick Jagger of Rolling stone are patronising to sustain the festival for a long time. The festival is celebrated on Sharad Purnima, the brightest full moon night. Musical nights are held at Jodhpur’s Mehrangarh Fort, and around 200 musicians attend from all over the world come to show their skill in music and dance.
Desert Festival, Jaisalmer
Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation celebrates this festival in February. The artists wear brightly coloured Rajasthani Traditional dresses and perform desert rituals and the life of the Rajasthan people. The Organisers conduct the Camel races, which are a feast for the eyes of the visitors. Several competitions like Mr Desert, most prolonged moustache and turban tying are conducted. Wide varieties of delicious dishes stalls arranged and Rajasthan handicrafts are the unique attractions during this three-day festival celebration.
Pushkar Fair
This is a desert festival celebrated at the banks of Pushkar Lake, near Pushkar city in Rajasthan. This is also a religious festival observed on Kartik Ekadashi. According to the Hindu Legends, Lord Brahma created this Pushkar Lake in the desert area. The people celebrated this festival to pay gratitude to Lord Brahma. This festival is celebrated for five days; the artists perform traditional dance and other cultural activities. The farmers sell and buy the Camels at this fair. Many foreign tourists visit to watch this fair. The local artists perform art, dance and music. The competitions are also held to bring pomp among the visitors.
Teej Festival Jaipur
This is one of the biggest festival celebrations in Rajasthan. The celebration of the festival commemorates two things, one is a woman’s love for her husband, and the second one is the entrance of the monsoon season. The women folk apply Mehendi designs on their hands, sing songs, and dance to folk tunes. The festival attire is to celebrate the Union of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi. The bazaars are filled with shops of sweets, jewellery and colourful clothes. Goddess Parvati Idol was decorated colourfully and carried on Palanquins throughout the streets of Jaipur. Thousands of devotees visit to see this procession. Dancers, folk music, bands and chariots followed the procession. The two eyes are not enough to see this entire colourful festival.
Gangaur Festival
This festival is celebrated on the eve of Goddess Parvathi coming to her home. A large number of women participated in the festival celebrations. Goddess Gauri Idol kept on the palanquins and carried through the city. The clad, decorated elephants walk ahead of the procession. The Chariots, folk songs and dance followed the parade and ended after the fireworks.
Jaipur Literature Festival, Jaipur
This festival is celebrated at Diggi Palace in Jaipur for five days. Jaipur literature festival is one of the world’s largest free literary festivals. During these celebrations, world-famous writers, Noble Laureates, Booker Prize winners, and Novelists come together and discuss and debate literature and the advent of new thoughts in society. They also give courageous speeches to the youth to reach their goals.
Nagaur Fair, Nagaur
This is the second-largest cattle fair in India. This fair is held in Nagaur, and nearly two lakh animal owners visit this place along with their cows, bullocks, oxen, camels and horses to trade. The organisers conducted the cockfights. The dancers perform folk dances. This festival has been attracting tourists and is organised by the Department of Animal Husbandry.